Pitts will be next Fulton County chairman

Robb Pitts will be the next Fulton County Commission chairman after defeating Keisha Waites in the Dec. 5 runoff election, according to unofficial state results.

Robb Pitts.

Pitts, a Buckhead resident, drew 55.03 percent of the vote in the special election to replace John Eaves, who resigned to make an unsuccessful run for the Atlanta Mayor’s Office. He won 54,072 votes to Waites’s 44,192.

Pitts is a former commissioner and Atlanta City Council president who pledged to be an experienced, strong leader. In a previous interview, he said his priorities would be transportation investments, modernizing the county’s criminal justice system, and beefing up capital investments in a new animal control facility, the library system’s master plan, senior facilities and Grady Hospital.

In precinct-based results, Pitts won most of his home Atlanta neighborhood and southern Sandy Springs, while Waites topped the vote in Sandy Springs’ central and panhandle areas.